BBC news 2011-03-04 加文本

BBC news 2011-03-04

BBC News with Iain Purdon

President Obama has again demanded that the embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi step down. Mr Obama repeatedly told a White House news conference that Colonel Gaddafi had lost the legitimacy to lead. He warns that those responsible for violence against civilians will be held accountable. With more, here's Kim Ghattas in Washington.

It's not the first time that Barack Obama has called on the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to leave office. Last week, the White House put it in a written statement. This time, Mr Obama did it in a televised press conference. It's part of the slow but steady ramping up of the pressure on Mr Gaddafi. Mr Obama also said he had instructed the Department of Defence and the State Department to examine a full range of options so that the United States could act rapidly if the situation deteriorated.

The International Organisation for Migration says 200,000 migrant workers have now left Libya, crossing into Egypt, Tunisia and Niger. An international airlift has been organised. Jeremy Bowen sent this report from a Libyan border crossing into Tunisia.

Without the foreign workers on whom this country's economy relies, Libya is feeling even more isolated. The good news for Colonel Gaddafi is that the road from here, the Tunisian border, back to Tripoli is under his control, except for the centre of one town, Zawiya. The bad news is that his security services don't know who they can trust here in western Libya. They are still raiding houses at night and taking people away. The colonel does have genuine support but has genuine opposition, too. The use of lethal force by the security services is so far this week deterring demonstrations.

There have been more attacks by Libyan air force planes on areas of eastern Libya controlled by anti-Gaddafi forces. A ship loaded with flour was sent to the city of Benghazi by the World Food Programme but had to turn back after reports of explosions. Earlier a Libyan opposition spokesman had reported bombing raids on anti-Gaddafi forces in nearby Ajdabiya and on the airport at Brega, which has a major oil terminal.

Tunisia's interim President Fouad Mebazaa has announced the first details of elections promised after the overthrow two months ago of President Ben Ali. Speaking on national television, Mr Mebazaa said that voting for a representative council that would rewrite the constitution would be held by the 24 July at the latest. He said that until then a new interim government would run the country and he would stay in office, despite a 60-day limit on caretaker office holders under the current constitution.

The United Nations food agency says global food prices reached a record high last month. The Food and Agriculture Organisation is warning that costs could spiral even further if unrest in Libya and the Middle East keeps driving up the price of oil. Rising food costs helped spark the recent protests in Egypt and Tunisia.

World News from the BBC

Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo are to set up a joint investigation into a gold smuggling network operating in the region. With more, here's Will Ross.

Officials from the Democratic Republic of Congo want to break up a gold smuggling network, and they see Kenya as a major hub. The recent discovery in Nairobi of two and a half tonnes of gold, worth around $100m, led to an investigation by Kenya's revenue authority. But over the weekend, the man heading the probe was shot dead outside his home. The Congolese and Kenyan presidents have now agreed to form a joint team to crack down on illegal gold smuggling, but past form shows that it's extremely hard to clean up the Congolese mineral trade.

The United Nations Security Council has said it's seriously concerned about violence in Ivory Coast. On Thursday, troops loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to leave office after a disputed presidential election, shot and killed six women marching in the main city. Barbara Plett reports.

The Security Council expressed deep concern about the escalation of violence and the risk of a return to civil war in Ivory Coast. It urged UN peacekeepers to use all necessary means to protect civilians, alarmed in particular by news that troops loyal to Laurent Gbagbo had opened fire with heavy machine guns on women protesters supporting his rival, the recognised winner of recent presidential elections Alassane Ouattara. Mr Gbagbo's forces have also targeted the peacekeepers. A senior UN official said UN troops had responded by conducting stronger patrols and using tear gas to break through blockades. But the Ivory Coast's ambassador here said that was not enough.

The Manchester City footballer Kolo Toure has been suspended after failing a drugs test. The English Premier League club said in a statement that Toure, an Ivory Coast international, had tested positive for what it called a "specified substance", but didn't say what that was. The club made no further comment.

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